APC accuses Arapasopo of fueling labour unrest in Osun

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) today accused the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Christopher Arapasopo, of encouraging unrest through his comments on the ongoing strike by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).

In a statement signed by its Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, the APC alleged that Arapasopo was working against the interest of local government workers and grassroots development by openly commending NULGE members for sustaining their strike, which has entered its seventh month.

The opposition party described the action as “senseless” and claimed it was being staged in sympathy with the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke.

“It is disheartening that a labour leader could, for suspected selfish interests, shamefully partner in promoting and encouraging a sympathy strike that has brought avoidable suffering to stakeholders across the state,” the APC said.

The party further argued that the strike had stalled statutory allocations to traditional rulers, thereby compounding hardship at the grassroots level. It insisted that Arapasopo’s position made him one of the “foremost enemies of progress” in Osun.

“In a saner society, a labour leader like Arapasopo has no reason to remain in office for willfully mortgaging the future of NULGE members,” the statement added.

The APC also alleged that the NLC chairman had turned into a “spokesman for Governor Adeleke” and was benefitting personally from the crisis. According to the party, Arapasopo’s movement around the state with armed escorts and hotel lodgings under the guise of security were indications that he was profiting from the prolonged action.

“Our appeal to the striking NULGE members is that they should discountenance the apparently government-sponsored appeal of Arapasopo to continue the strike. They are the ones who know where the shoe pinches them,” the statement read.

The party urged the workers to reconsider the impact of the industrial action on their welfare and that of grassroots communities, insisting that Arapasopo’s position was not in their interest.

Efforts to reach Arapasopo for comment on the APC’s allegations were unsuccessful as of press time.